Today we
had a visit from the Armada Republica Argentina (ARA) Castillo.
This ship was built in 1943 for the U.S. Navy, and its name was the
U.S. Takelma, an ATF 113. The Takelma served in the U.S. Navy
in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. It was a part
of the auxiliary tug fleet until it was de-commissioned in 1972.

In 1994,
the ship was purchased from the U.S. government by Argentina. It was
commissioned in 1995 as Argentina's ARA Castillo. It has been
upgraded with many sophisticated communications instruments. Its home
port is Mar del Plata, Argentina. The Castillo is 62 meters long
and it has a crew of 60. Seven members of the crew came to Palmer Station
while the ship was anchored in Arthur Harbor.

The ARA
Castillo is a part of the Antarctic Patrol. Argentina and Chile
work together as this patrol, known as Patrulla Antarctica Naval Combinada.
Ships in this patrol come to Antarctic waters from November to March
every year.

The mission
of the patrol is to help preserve the ecosystem here. They work to prevent
oil spills from cruise ships and to help any ships in distress. They
have four navy divers onboard the ship. These divers can use skimmers
and sea barriers in case any vessel has an oil leak or other damage.
For example, if a cruise ship comes into contact with a large iceberg,
these divers can go underwater to assess any damage to the ship and
then help in the necessary clean up!

The
flags are flying for the visit from one of Argentina's naval vessels.

Commanding
Officer LtCdr. Simoncini does his dishes after lunch. This is
the system that we all use here at Palmer Station. We wash our
own dishes, and then we put the dishes into racks. Each rack of
clean dishes later goes through a sterilizer.